Articles
Improving Medication Safety: Safer Together
Medication safety is a critical issue for health professionals and their patients. Although medicines make a significant contribution to preventing and treating illness, increasing life expectancy and improving quality of life, they also have the potential to cause harm. As a result, medicines are not only associated with providing therapeutic benefits to patients, but also with adverse events caused by errors in systems and processes within prescribing, dispensing, administration and monitoring practices. Medication incidences have negative impacts on patient outcomes and public confidence of healthcare delivery and they are costly to the health care system, its health professionals and regulatory bodies. Safe use of medicines is a high priority in the healthcare sector. [ + ]
New Regions to Deliver the Australian General Practice Training Program
General Practice Registras Australia (GPRA) supports the plan to establish a new profession-led General Practice Training Advisory Committee to provide advice to the government on GP training policy and delivery. The advisory committee will include representatives from GPRA, RACGP, ACRRM, GPSA as well as an independent Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander GP. [ + ]
Call to Screen Elderly for Alcohol Consumption
A University of Adelaide researcher is calling for screening of alcohol consumption among the elderly to determine potential harmful effects. [ + ]
Drop in Golden Staph Cases in Major Australian Hospitals
Australia’s major public hospitals have recorded a six per cent drop in the rate of healthcare-associated ‘Golden Staph’ bloodstream infections. [ + ]
Vitamin D link with Depression in Overweight Women
University of Adelaide researchers have discovered a previously unknown link between vitamin D and depression in overweight women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). [ + ]
Call to Stop Doctors Providing Unproven Stem Cell Therapies
The Australian Academy of Science is calling for the closure of a loophole that is allowing some doctors to offer unproven stem cell therapies. [ + ]
Regional Assessment Services Providers Announced
Assistant Minister for Social Services Senator Mitch Fifield has announced 13 organisations selected to operate the My Aged Care Regional Assessment Services. [ + ]
Blocking Dengue Fever With Bacteria
Research conducted at the University of Melbourne, in collaboration with international researchers, has tested a novel way to block dengue virus using Wolbachia, an insect bacterium. [ + ]
Funding Extended for Alcohol and Drug Treatment Organisations
Approximately 160 alcohol and drug treatment organisations have had their funding extended until 30 June 2016. [ + ]
Report on Leading Causes of Death in Australia
Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in Australia, with dementia and Alzheimer's Disease now outranking cerebrovascular disease. [ + ]
World's Largest Anorexia Nervosa Study Calls for Volunteers
Australians either living with or having recovered from anorexia nervosa, are being asked to participate in the world’s largest and most rigorous genetic investigation into the illness. The Anorexia Nervosa Genetics Initiative (ANGI) aims to identify the genes that play a role in causing the serious and potentially life-threatening illness, affecting an estimated 53,000 Australians.1,2 [ + ]